Former Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi Expelled From Cricket Board

Former Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi was on Wednesday "banned for life from holding any cricket post, three years after being thrown out of his own popular, but tainted, Twenty20 league," according to the AFP. The general body of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which met in Chennai, "accepted the verdict of its disciplinary panel that found Modi guilty of 'serious' acts of indiscipline and misconduct." Modi was found guilty, among other things, of rigging bids during the franchise auction in '10, selling media and Internet rights without authorization and "secretly trying to create a rebel T20 league in England without the knowledge of the Indian and England boards" (AFP, 9/25). The BBC reported the decision was taken at a special meeting of the BCCI in the southern city of Chennai on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court "dismissed a petition" from Modi to stop the meeting. Modi, who denies any wrongdoing, said that "he was going to fight the ban." Modi said, "I was already gone since I had been suspended for three years, so I expected the ban. But I am going to fight them and the ban gives me more resolve to go after them. Indian cricket needs cleansing and as far as I am concerned I am going to go after them. Till now they were colleagues. I am coming after them. Wait and watch" (BBC, 9/25). The PTI reported Modi's lawyer, Mehmood Abdi, on Wednesday said that "he would challenge it in the court." Abdi: "The entire disciplinary process was vitiated by malice, prejudice and personal bias which we will challenge in a court of law and expose all those persons with vested interests" (PTI, 9/25). The PTI also reported Modi also took a "veiled potshot" at BCCI President N. Srinivasan, "accusing BCCI members of protecting the Tamil Nadu strongman." Modi: "I think fans are a little disappointed on this match-fixing issue and also the persons involved. It is really sad that they banned the person who created the league but people who are fixing matches and those who are running the Board are being protected by the BCCI members" (PTI, 9/25). The text of Modi's letter to the BCCI can be found here.